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Bye bye, Sports Illustrated?

Deej

By Deej
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Reese Bennett

Reese Bennett 3609

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si has been dead to me since they put a soccer guy on the cover the week the Rockets won their first championship--and we all know the Knicks would have been on the cover if they had won. I had been waiting my whole life--including the first year I got a subscription for Christmas at age 9--to have a Houston championship team on the cover and they fucked me.  Just look at this shit. Rockets championship below soccer and on par with an old-ass Ted Williams fishing. Since then, I haven't even picked up an issue in a doctor's office waiting room. Fuck them. And good riddance. 

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Richard Kimball

Richard Kimball 1494

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16 minutes ago, Reese Bennett said:

si has been dead to me since they put a soccer guy on the cover the week the Rockets won their first championship--and we all know the Knicks would have been on the cover if they had won. I had been waiting my whole life--including the first year I got a subscription for Christmas at age 9--to have a Houston championship team on the cover and they fucked me.  Just look at this shit. Rockets championship below soccer and on par with an old-ass Ted Williams fishing. Since then, I haven't even picked up an issue in a doctor's office waiting room. Fuck them. And good riddance. 

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From Hell's heart, I stab at thee

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msucolt45

msucolt45 4057

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The commemorative issue that SI made, after and for the ‘05 NC, had a couple historical team pictures. My Dad is just to the right of a kneeling DKR, as they were awaiting the results of the coin toss, for the ‘63 Texas vs OU game.

Texas was #2 and OU was #1 going into that game. It’s currently the last time both teams have played as #1 vs #2, in the history of that rivalry.

Hook’em!!!

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Brothahorn

Brothahorn 10087

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1 hour ago, ousux said:

Compare this to swimsuit issues for a past few years..

No wonder an SI already on life support pulled the plug themselves.

That's very fat-ist of you. Big girls need love too.

Sports-Illustrated-640x480-1-640x480.jpg

 

Although I don't think it was just the big girls that killed them.

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Captainant

Captainant 27647

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33 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

What's crazy is that less than two years ago Arena was bragging about how much money it was making:

https://pressroom.si.com/press-releases/the-arena-group-reports-full-year-2022-revenue-of-221-million-driven-by-a-nearly-74-year-over-year-increase-in-digital-advertising-revenue

 

A business group living it up quarter to quarter while ignoring the long term instability they're accruing? Something like that would never happen!

The linked article includes the seeds of their downfall: 

Quote

The Company reported significant improvements in both top-and bottom-line results in 2022, driving record revenues of more than $221 million, while reducing operating expenses by nearly $20 million over that time. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company reported revenue from continuing operations of $61.7 million while reducing operating expenses by more than 30%. 

These results were driven by significant gains in digital advertising and licensing and syndication, and new lines of revenue in online betting and e-commerce, while managing headwinds and declines in the legacy print and subscription lines. Overall, the Company reported its highest full-year revenue and profits in its history.

Cutting expenses (read: paying for fewer writers) while amping up advertising monetization (replacing now missing/thin content with ads) sounds like a quarter or two of good money, and then nobody will want your enshittified product anymore

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Texzilla58

Texzilla58 4732

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I got a sub to SI in 68. That was a weekly treat. It’s where I learned about sports, plus Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, the NFL Today, and Wide World of Sports. I kept it really into the late 80’s and by then it was getting bad. ESPN replaced it and then the internet put the nail in the coffin.

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Duane Moore

Duane Moore 5237

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1 hour ago, Brothahorn said:

That's very fat-ist of you. Big girls need love too.

Sports-Illustrated-640x480-1-640x480.jpg

 

Although I don't think it was just the big girls that killed them.

Vic can only buy so many copies. It’s not a sustainable business model. 

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Not a cat

Not a cat 5652

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1 hour ago, msucolt45 said:

The commemorative issue that SI made, after and for the ‘05 NC, had a couple historical team pictures. My Dad is just to the right of a kneeling DKR, as they were awaiting the results of the coin toss, for the ‘63 Texas vs OU game.

Texas was #2 and OU was #1 going into that game. It’s currently the last time both teams have played as #1 vs #2, in the history of that rivalry.

Hook’em!!!

1984?  I could swear we were 1 and they were 2 before we imploded at the end of that season.

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LonghornBreeder

LonghornBreeder 550

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I grew up reading my dad's weekly sub in the 80s and 90s too. I'd probably be illiterate if SI hadn't given me something I cared to read. I might have hidden away of few of those special February issues too.

But since the world moved online, I hadn't even notice they tried putting fatties in the swimsuit issue. That's wild... and stupid!

Honestly, I think Surly gives me better news these days and provides plenty of great eye candy on the 9.95 board every time a 'cruit commits to The Horns.

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msucolt45

msucolt45 4057

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As soon as they stopped giving away quality merch like this, they were doomed (of course I had one, was like talking into a cardboard tube...)
 
 

I still have a Burnt Orange Longhorn hat from around ‘06-07 that shows each of the four NC years on it and SI on the side.

Hook’em!!!
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Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15044

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7 hours ago, Underdog said:

All the Championship gear you’d get with a new subscription, commemorative magazine, ball and a t-shirt or hoodie/sweatshirt. 

Got this in the early 1980’s and wore it as recently as 2018 until the wife finally said “enough!”

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ajax

ajax 2609

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10 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

That's very fat-ist of you. Big girls need love too.

Sports-Illustrated-640x480-1-640x480.jpg

 

Although I don't think it was just the big girls that killed them.

Agreed. Can't blame it all on the big girls.

x162521_tk2_00287-rawfinal1920jpg.thumb.jpg.94dc6e79c9926e5a4709757088b9e495.jpg

 

10 hours ago, Brothahorn said:

 

 

Edited by ajax
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SurlyGator

SurlyGator 865

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11 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

What's crazy is that less than two years ago Arena was bragging about how much money it was making:

https://pressroom.si.com/press-releases/the-arena-group-reports-full-year-2022-revenue-of-221-million-driven-by-a-nearly-74-year-over-year-increase-in-digital-advertising-revenue

 

 

Perhaps there is some correlation?

 

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MrBig

MrBig 5394

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1 hour ago, SurlyGator said:

 

Perhaps there is some correlation?

 

The brunette looks like a thick Kate Hudson. 

And these assholes making this tweet are so quick to point the finger at obese & trans women to fill some narrative about “wokeness.” But if they added the 2021 covers with black women and blamed “diversity” they would find themselves in a world of shit. 

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Richard Kimball

Richard Kimball 1494

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Sports Illustrated, like daily newspapers, was going to die anyway. Replacing all the editors with chicks that don't care about sports accelerated the speed of the death, but the reason for the magazine ceased to exist several years ago. 

There were three things that made Sports Illustrated popular: great photographs, the swimsuit issue, and some talented writers. 

While I wasn't a huge fan of Peter King, George Plimpton, or Paul Zimmerman, they each had a style. You didn't need to read the byline to recognize their writing. Plimpton could make a story out of nothing, like when he worked out with the Detroit Lions, ran three plays in a preseason game, and got multiple stories and a book out of it(Paper Lion.) In an era where everyone with a webcam has their own sports channel, nobody's going to stand out that much. It's like nobody will ever be another Johnny Carson, cause if Carson was still around, he wouldn't be Johnny Carson, dominating the airwaves. He lived in an era where there were three channels, and maybe one other late night host at a time. 

I think it was close to ten years ago that SI fired all their photographers and started using freelancers. After that, their photos started looking just like everyone else's photos. 

Going to the trannies and fatties in the swimsuit issue alienated their core audience. Looking back on the last forty years, it's crazy how many models became famous from being on the cover of that issue. Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs, Elle McPherson, Kathy Ireland. Even leaving out the fatties and trannies, in 2022, Kim Kardashian was a swimsuit model. Guys who spend their lives avoiding seeing Kim Kardashian don't want to open up the swimsuit issue and see her botoxed plastic surgery face and fake boobs.

The biggest thing, though, is that up until the internet, there was a limited supply of information and illustration about specific teams and sports. Like what happened to sportscenter, nobody has to wait to see highlights anymore, and they don't have to wait a week to see photos of big sporting events. 

IF they had people who cared about sports running it, they may have been able to hang around by doing commemorative editions for NFL, NBA, and college championships, the swimsuit issue, etc. Hell, they could probably sell 100,000 copies of a Michigan football issue, cause every Wolverine fan would keep that forever. I still have my 2005 Longhorn issue. 

Edited by Richard Kimball
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SurlyGator

SurlyGator 865

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6 minutes ago, MrBig said:

The brunette looks like a thick Kate Hudson. 

And these assholes making this tweet are so quick to point the finger at obese & trans women to fill some narrative about “wokeness.” But if they added the 2021 covers with black women and blamed “diversity” they would find themselves in a world of shit. 

Apples and oranges.  Google says that the first SI cover to include a black woman was Tyra Banks in 1996.  She's been on three, and there have been others.  I remember the howls of protest either on this forum or on its predecesor when the swimsuit issue with plus size models came out.  Personally, I didn't have a problem with it (I like big butts and I cannot lie).  However, a pretty dude in a bikini?  I'm gonna have to draw the line there.

You guys can flame me all you want, but the "Go woke, go broke" cause and effect appears to be rather consistent, whether you like it or not.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 54210

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20 minutes ago, MrBig said:

And these assholes making this tweet are so quick to point the finger at obese & trans women to fill some narrative about “wokeness.” But if they added the 2021 covers with black women and blamed “diversity” they would find themselves in a world of shit. 

If by "in a world of shit," you mean "nominated for US Senator of Oklahoma," you're absolutely correct.

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